By AD Smith
DSN Contributor

The Pit Crew was pretty rough on Kevin Love. What kind of treatment of athletes by fans do you think is acceptable and unacceptable? (Ross - Eugene)

I’m fairly liberal with what should be allowed by fans in College Basketball. It’s the enthusiasm of college students that helps make the game so much better than the NBA.

I played in every Pac-10 venue on multiple occasions and I know that fans can be pretty harsh. I personally was never bothered much by profanity. If an individual fan in the student section wants to yell profanities at Kevin Love, I actually think it’s OK. It’s my opinion that most players take it as a sign of respect. It can actually get a player fired up; make him feel like he’s “the man.” After all, the crowd seldom gets on the 4th guy off the bench.

What I do think is unacceptable is group chants using profanity. Young kids sitting 100 feet from the student section shouldn’t have to hear some of the things being said at Mac Court against UCLA. Within the student section almost anything goes but “normal” fans in the arena shouldn’t be exposed to it. I think Kevin Love has broad enough shoulders to handle anything the PIT Crew can throw at him. It’s just that fans, specifically young fans, don’t need to and shouldn’t have to hear it.

When you chose Oregon, did concern for how you would be viewed here in Oregon influence your decision? (Scott - Eugene)

First of all, my situation and that of Kevin Love and former South Medford star Kyle Singler were completely different. I probably had 6-7 scholarship offers and came to Oregon because it was the best one I had. Both Love and Singler could have literally gone anywhere they wanted.

Of course I was excited about getting to stay at home and I would’ve chosen Oregon over 90%+ of other schools. They probably felt the same way. It’s just that Duke and UCLA were in the other 10%. If Stanford had offered me a scholarship as a High School senior I wouldn’t have thought twice about going. Arizona? I’d have been working on my tan. I don’t blame Love or Singler at all for leaving. They needed to look out for themselves; not worry about the state of Oregon Basketball.

Does Mac Court’s home court advantage outweigh a larger negative perception of Duck fans & the Pit Crew? (Jay - Springfield)

I don’t believe in the “larger negative perception” of Duck fans and the Pit Crew. It is true that Thursday’s actions against UCLA shouldn’t be excused and without question they lacked class. That, however, shouldn’t take away from years of being the best student section in the conference.

What do television viewers hear before every FSN broadcast? (Other than that the seniors take Yoga and billiards classes)

What they hear is how wonderful Mac Court is. How the Pit is the Cameron Indoor of the West Coast. What the average fan probably doesn’t realize is how true that statement really is. To play in a game at USC, UCLA, or ASU is not even comparable. The passion of fans within Mac Court, the advantage of that enthusiasm, makes playing in the Pit a truly unique experience.

Last week’s events notwithstanding, the perception of fans at Mac Court around the Conference is mostly positive. They are loud, enthusiastic, and passionate. To say one night’s actions will change that reputation is unfair.

(On a side note: re-creating that atmosphere in a new facility will be the key factor in the future success of Oregon Basketball. If Oregon builds a cushy stadium where everyone wants to sit and enjoy the game (like at ASU) Oregon Basketball will take a big step backward.)

After Losing 4 straight games, are the Ducks NCAA Tournament hopes dead? (Jim– Albany)

Not quite dead, but seriously threatened.

Oregon’s road to the NCAA can happen if they win 10 conference games. The most likely way for that to happen is for the Ducks to go 7-2 at home and 3-6 on the road. To accomplish that they’ll need to win their remaining 5 home games and hope to win at OSU and either USC, UCLA, Stanford, or Cal.

While that may sound like a daunting challenge, Oregon does have the talent and experience to go on a big run. They’ve bounced back before and I wouldn’t be surprised if they do it again.

The part that gives me the most reason for concern is how they played against USC.

Oregon played very extremely well in previous games against highly ranked WSU and UCLA, but looked completely out of sorts in a must win home game against the Trojans. They didn’t play well together, relied too much on attacking 1 on 1, and didn’t make stops when they needed to.

Had Oregon completed the miraculous comeback I’m certain the follow up stories would have praised the Duck’s heart for sticking it out, for not giving up, for hitting big shots.

The truth is they would have been lucky. Against WSU and UCLA Oregon played very well for 38 minutes and bad for the final 2 minutes. Against USC, the Ducks played well for just those 2 minutes. The bottom line is that neither recipe is good enough to win in the Pac 10 this year. And without 10 Conference wins I don’t like their chances of getting in.
A.D. Smith

Smith began his playing career at Churchill High and led the Lancers to their first state championship in 1995. A two time All-State selection and 1995 State Player of the Year, Smith stepped up to the Pac-10 as an All-conference player for the Ducks. In four years he was voted three times as a team captain, three times as a 1st team Academic All conference selection and twice as an Academic All American. In his final two years AD led the Ducks to the NIT Final Four and the NCAA Tournament.

In June of 2000, he finished his playing career and graduated with an MBA. After leaving the Ducks in 2000, AD played 6 years in Europe and Australia and won a National Championship and playoff MVP in Copenhagen Denmark.

AD is currently a Real Estate Broker for Keller Williams Realty in Eugene. He specializes in Residential Real Estate- working with both buyers and sellers.

He and his wife, Kelly, have two daughters, Abigail and Isabelle.

JJ, here.

I just want to let you know that I’m not going to moralize right now, even though I think there are plenty of reasons to do so. Instead, I just want to ask some simple questions about the actions of the fans (specifically, the student section, “The Pit Crew”) at the UCLA-Oregon game on Thursday night.

That’s all.

Well, almost all. I might have a few moralizing thoughts, here or there…

And I want to use the University of Oregon Athletic Department’s Code of ConDUCKt as a place to start.

If you’re not familiar with the entire “Code of ConDUCKt”, here it is.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Code of ConDUCKt requests fans to refrain from disruptive behavior, including foul language and obscene gestures; to sit only in their ticketed seats; to comply with requests from event staff; and use of tobacco products is only allowed in designated areas.

At Thursday’s game, I heard Don Essig refer to the Code of ConDUCKt in his pre-game announcements. So, that leads me to a couple of questions:

Question: Were fans engaging in “disruptive behavior”?

DSN (JJ): Probably, but that’s a hard one to determine. What’s the definition of “disruptive behavior”? It could mean anything from yelling “fire” to hitting someone. I really didn’t see any of that. Although, I think there was a lot of gasoline getting tossed around.

Question: Was there “foul language”?

DSN (JJ): Yes. “Kevin’s a p~$$#”. I think “f@%%&#” was also used. And I’m sure there was other language used that I just didn’t hear. Also, quite a number signs used foul language, as well.

Question: Were there “obscene gestures”?

DSN (JJ): Yeah. Saw those, too. I think the middle finger was the most popular one. Actually, I kept on seeing the same student do that right above Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny’s head, who was seated right in front of the student section on the floor. And could the contents of a sign be considered an “obscene gesture”? Maybe.

Here’s another excerpt:

“The University of Oregon is committed to doing everything it can to help ensure that its sporting events are safe and enjoyable for all spectators. With the Code of ConDUCKt and related efforts in place, Autzen Stadium will continue to be a premier venue for college football,” President Frohnmayer said.

Assuming that President Frohnmayer still believes this to be true and should be applied to all sports venues, here are a few more questions to think about:

Question: Was that game “safe and enjoyable for all spectators”?

DSN (JJ): I don’t think so. Just ask the Loves. What the Loves have done in the past does not matter here. What the Duck fans did Thursday night is the issue. Was it safe? Was it safe for the Loves? Yeah…after they had a complement of police officers surrounding them that would rival the President’s Secret Service protection. Was it “enjoyable” for them? Even though UCLA got the win, I doubt the experience was enjoyable.

But was the game even enjoyable for Duck fans? Probably not. It’s been described as stomach-turning, embarrassing, vile, disgusting, inappropriate, and foul. And that’s coming from Duck fans. When parents have to start telling their children “ear-muffs” at games, that’s not probably not “enjoyable”.

So, is the University of Oregon committed to making it safe and enjoyable for all fans, or just the ones that aren’t the Loves?

Here’s an excerpt from former Athletics Director Bill Moos:

“It is of utmost importance to the university that the behavior at our athletic events is consistent with the high standards for which we are known,” Moos emphasized. “I applaud the good work by members of my staff in addressing this concern and ask that our great fans be more conscious of how they treat each other while making Autzen Stadium the toughest place to play in the Pac-10.”

I’m going to assume current Athletics Director Pat Kilkenny agrees. If that’s the case…

Question: Was that game “consistent with the high standards for which we are known“?

DSN (JJ): No. Actually, I think Mac Court set a new low standard. And don’t kid yourself. For as much good will as Dennis Dixon pocketed for Oregon during the football season, Oregon just blew it all during the UCLA game. And Oregon is taking an absolute beating in the national press because of that game.

Question: Have members of the Athletics Department staff addressed these concerns?

DSN (JJ): I don’t know. But it doesn’t sound like they are going to be addressing these concerns. Here’s what the University of Oregon’s Greg Walker told the Los Angeles Times:

Greg Walker, a spokesman for the Oregon athletic department, acknowledged that some of the chants and signs were in poor taste. “But the other side of this is a free speech issue,” Walker said. “We don’t have the authority to take away signs. We don’t agree with all the things that were said or that they were in the best of taste. We’re aware of everything that was said and we’re not always proud. But there is a right to free speech.”

Question: Are signs at a University of Oregon basketball game a free speech issue?

DSN (JJ): I don’t think so. And why do I think that? Because the U of O says so. Let’s look back to the University of Oregon’s Code of ConDUCKt:

Spectators who refuse to abide by the behavior guidelines are subject to removal from the stadium, as well as the revocation of season tickets and/or the right to purchase single-game tickets to future University of Oregon events.

Question: What can the University of Oregon do in the future to prevent the concerns?

DSN (JJ): According to their own code, fans can be removed from the venue, have their season tickets revoked, and prevented from purchasing any tickets (to any events) for not complying with their code.

But here are a few more, less draconian (maybe more) steps they can take in addition to the ones mentioned in the code if things don’t improve:

- Ban all signs from Mac Court

- Discontinue the Pit Crew practice of lining up before the game

- Decertify the Pit Crew as a student organization

- Reduce student allotment of tickets

- Disperse the students to various sections around Mac Court

There’s one more thing that could be done: if the chanting happens again, Mr. Frohnmayer or Mr. Kilkenny could take the mic from Don Essig, apologize, and nicely request that the chanting stop.

And why is this a concern? Because it’s going to happen again when Washington and Ryan Appleby come to Mac Court.

Here are a couple of questions for you:

Question: Do you want the University of Oregon associated with that behavior?

Question: Do you think the behavior at the UCLA game did the University of Oregon any good?

Question: How would the University of Oregon have been viewed if they had at least been indifferent towards the Loves?

There are a lot of questions here. Fortunately, the University of Oregon doesn’t have to go very far to find the answers. They already know them.

Whether the U of O chooses to do anything is another question.

JJ

[Editor's note: If you are a regular visitor to DSN, you probably saw the posts we had on what to expect at the UCLA game (Pit Crew: Tonight, There Will Be Signs & Here’s What You Can Expect From The Pit Crew). Let me make this clear: I'm not against the Pit Crew having fun and making Mac Court an intimidating place for opposing teams. I anticipated more of a fun ESPN College Gameday feel to it, as opposed to what materialized Thursday night. And that's the spirit those other posts were made in.]